Li Shulan immediately took out the two pieces of cloth.
One was light blue checkered, and the other a pale yellow with tiny floral prints.
Having sewn clothes for years—and having seen many stylish designs while following her sons in the afterlife—the right designs immediately came to her mind.
Coincidentally, her daughters-in-law had just come in. She had never given them anything before, so she decided to make each of them a Bulaqi dress from these fabrics!
However, to do this, she needed to make a trip to the town’s supply and marketing cooperative—to officially “register” the cloth, and also to buy some fresh pork.
They couldn’t always eat cured meat.
Li Shulan decided she would make breakfast early tomorrow, then ride her bicycle to the cooperative, buy what she needed, come back in time to cook lunch for her daughters-in-law, and start sewing the dresses in the afternoon.
Oh, and she also had to build a flush toilet in the yard! She would never use a dry latrine again in this life.
Of course, building a flush toilet wasn’t simple.
She would need bricks, cement, sand, lime, asphalt, a squat toilet, a water tank… and for each item, she would need official approval. She decided she’d have to ask her eldest son for help.
This was crucial. If she didn’t get the flush toilet built soon, every time she went to the bathroom she would be terrified, especially at night—she would rather hold it than risk falling in again.
Tomorrow she would call her eldest son and have him handle it.
It would also be convenient for his wife.
After finishing the sewing group work in the afternoon, Li Shulan started preparing dinner.
She planned to make dumplings that night—cured meat and mushroom dumplings—savory, chewy, and delicious.
There was a back kitchen behind the main hall. In summer, she cooked there; in winter, she cooked on the kang to warm it while cooking.
She first kneaded the dough, then soaked some dried mushrooms. She cut a piece of cured meat from the block harvested at noon, rinsed it, and chopped it together with the mushrooms for the filling.
By the time her daughters-in-law returned from work, the dough wrappers were ready.
Seeing their sunburned faces, Li Shulan hurriedly said, “I’ve heated a pot of water on the stove. Didn’t I give each of you a wooden tub at your wedding? Fill it and take a bath. You’re sticky from wheat chaff—it itches! Leave your clothes outside; I’ll wash them tomorrow.”
“Alright, thank you, Mom.”
While her daughters-in-law bathed, Li Shulan made dozens of dumplings, all of which went straight into the pot.
Meng Yue and Su Xiao would never let their mother-in-law wash clothes for them every day.
After bathing, they immediately carried basins to the well to do their laundry.
The Qin family’s well had been dug the previous year when Li Shulan built houses for her sons. It had cost her over 100 yuan.
She recalled how in her previous life she had deliberately tormented her eldest daughter-in-law, forbidding the use of the well, forcing her to wash clothes by the river, ultimately causing her to fall in and drown. Truly sinful.
Summer clothes washed easily; soon the two were done.
The dumplings floated to the top, plump and white, looking very appetizing.
Without needing instruction, Meng Yue began clearing the table, while Su Xiao held three large bowls near her mother-in-law.
Li Shulan served the dumplings and brought out a jar of homemade chili sauce, pouring a small dish for them.
She didn’t sit; her daughters-in-law stood politely at the table.
“Why are you standing? Sit and eat. Here’s some chili sauce I made myself—try it and see if you like it. If not, I can swap some with Aunt Zhou next door later.”
Su Xiao quickly waved her hand. “No need, Mom. I’ll be fine—I’m not picky.”
Not picky?
In the previous life, Su Xiao refused scallions, cilantro, bitter melon, and beef.
Every time Li Shulan had made dishes, she added scallions and cilantro. When Su Xiao complained, she called her fussy and wasteful—sometimes making her cry.
“Not picky? Then tomorrow morning, we’ll have scallion pancakes.”
“No, Mom! I was wrong! I don’t eat scallions!” Su Xiao’s face turned tearful immediately.
Meng Yue laughed.
“Alright, just try it first.”
Su Xiao took some chili sauce with her chopsticks, and her eyes lit up instantly.
“Delicious! Mom, I love your chili sauce—it’s so good!”
“Good. If you like it, eat quickly before it gets sticky.”
At that moment, the reward notification rang in her mind again:
[Ding!] Cooking for daughters-in-law: Reward 10 yuan ×2, soap ×2.
Soap?
Not meat vouchers this time?
Well, a new item every time was fine.
Just as she put down her bowl, Meng Yue and Su Xiao simultaneously pulled out a wad of cash from their pockets.
“Mom, this is our monthly food allowance. From now on, we’ll give it to you on time every month. Is it enough?”
“Yes, it’s enough. As for the eldest and younger sons’ salaries, I’ll take one-third each month as my retirement money; the rest is yours.”
In her previous life, she had used food allowance as an excuse to reclaim the 200-yuan wedding gifts and take full control of the sons’ salaries.
Even after they started splitting it monthly, she still found ways to take some. It had caused the daughters-in-law serious difficulty, even leading to gynecological problems.
Sinful, truly sinful.
Li Shulan silently vowed to atone for her past life in this one.
After giving the food allowance, Meng Yue and Su Xiao began clearing the table and washing dishes.
Li Shulan didn’t interfere. Being a good mother-in-law didn’t mean treating daughters-in-law like royalty—she cooked, they washed, all was fine.
In the countryside, nights had little entertainment; after eating, everyone cooled off and went to bed on the kang.
Li Shulan lay down on the kang, holding the two soaps obtained from the system, inhaling their fragrance.
Wow, they smelled amazing! The soap looked nice too, like city products from Shanghai.
She would give them to her daughters-in-law when she returned from town.
..
The next day.
By four in the morning, the daughters-in-law had gone to morning work. Li Shulan got up to knead and roll dough to make noodles for breakfast.
By the time they returned, the noodles were cooked—exactly three bowls.
“Meng Yue, this food is amazing—I feel like I’m dreaming,” Su Xiao said, inhaling the aroma.
“Don’t think too much,” Meng Yue said with a faint smile, watching their busy mother-in-law in the kitchen. “But if we keep eating like this, our food allowance won’t cover it. I’ll give Mom a little extra in a couple of days. What about you?”
“I’ll give extra too. If we ate like this every day, I’d gladly hand over all of Zixuan’s salary,” Su Xiao said.
Since coming to the countryside, neither of them had eaten well.
They had money, but little chance to use it and no cooking skills. Even swapping eggs with neighbors resulted in unappetizing meals.
Now their mother-in-law cooked delicious food, remembered that Su Xiao liked spicy dishes, and prepared them specifically.
Spending a little money for such a good life seemed more than worth it—especially money coming from their mother-in-law’s sons.
Su Xiao suddenly realized this marriage didn’t seem like a bad deal.
Her husband was tall, handsome, and a military officer; her mother-in-law cared for her; and she had her own house.
“Back from work? Wash up and get ready to eat.”
“Mom, I’ll bring you the noodles,” Su Xiao said with a smile.
Meng Yue washed her hands and began setting the table.
At the table, Li Shulan ate noodles while asking, “I’m planning to go to the supply and marketing cooperative later. Do you two need me to bring anything back?”